Half to william thomas gast



No. 6i4,7l5. Patented Nov. 22, |898. W. 4Il. HARRIS.

PLOW AND CULTIVATOR.

(Appliation led Nov. 15, 1397.)

(No Model.)

i NITE STATES lWILLIAM HARRIS, OF RUSSELLVILLE, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- I'IALF TO IVILLIAMV THOMAS GAST, OF SAME PLACE.

PLOW AN D CU L TlvAToR.

srncIFIcA'rIoN forming para of 'Letters Patent No. 614,715, dated Ivevernbeia 22, 189s. Application iiled November 15, 1897. Serial No. 658,652. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may con/cern.:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM D. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Russellville, in the county of Franklin and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Plow and Oultivator, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to plows and cultivators in which the elements are coupled in a manner to attain adjustment and suit any kind of work. The operator has control over the implement, so as to swing the handles in either direction without turning either plow out of the ground.

A further object of the invention is to provide for the adjustment of the pairs of beams to any desired width; and a further object is to enable the capacity of the implement to be varied by detachably coupling two, three, or

more beams together.

Vith these ends in View the invention consists in the novel combination of ,elements and in the construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciiication, and in which- Figure lis a perspective view of one adaptation of the implement, illustrating a series of three beams coupled together. Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the implement with a pair of beams coupled in parallel relation to each other. Fig. 3 is a transverse section` on a plane through the connectinglinks which loosely couple the rear ends of the beams and the handles thereof. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a coupling-bar for uniting the rear beam or beams with the handles of the front beams. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one draft appliance which may be used in connection with a pair of cultivatorbeams.

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

The numerals 1 and 2 indicate a pair of front beams which are loosely coupled together in substantially parallel relation to each other by devices embodying my invention, and these beams are provided with the upwardly-inclined handles 3 4, respectively. To the beams are clamped, as at 6, the stocks 5,adapted to carry the cultivator-shovels, and these stocks, the clamps therefor, and the shovels may be of any preferred construction approved by those skilled in the art. At the front ends the beams are provided with clevises 7 for the attachment of the draft appliances.

In embodying my invention in a cultivator I provide the beams 1 and 2 near their rear ends with transverse slots S and 9, and through each beam is formed a vertical bolt-hole 10, which intersects with the slot.

11 designates a beam-connecting link which is provided near each end with a series of perforations 12, and the perforated ends of the connecting-link are fitted in the slots 8 and 9 of the beams in a way to have certain ofthe perforations 12 in the link aline with the'vertical bolt-holes 10 of the beams, thus mutually adapting the parts for the pivotal bolts 13 to pass through the bolt-holes 10 and perforations 12 in the beams and connecting-link, respectively.

The handle-bars 3 and 4. are provided at suitable points intermediate of their length with transverse slots 14 and 15, which are intersected by bolt-holes 16, and these handlebars are loosely connected together by a connecting-link 17 which serves to maintain the handle-bars in proper relation to each other. The connecting-link 17 is provided near each end with a series of transverse apertures 18, and through certain of these apertures in the link are passed the pivotal bolts 19, which are inserted through the holes 16 in the handle-bars.

In my invention it is necessary that the cross-sectional area of the connecting-links 11 and 17 shall be less than the area of the slots in the cultivator-beams and their handles, so that the connecting-links may work or play loosely and freely in the slotted beams and handles; but the parts are prevented from separationor uncouplin g by the employment of the bolts.

It is evident that the pair of beams and their handle-bars are held substantiallyin IOO parallel operative relation to each other by the described construction and arrangement of the connecting-links between the beams and their handles; but the provision of apertures in the connecting-links and the removable bolts by which the links are detachably connected to the beams and handles permits the implement to be widened or contracted, according'to the work it is desired the implement shall perform.

2O designates a draft appliance by which a single horse or a team may be hitched to the implement. The tree 2l is provided at its ends with the hooks 22, to which the traces may be connected, and said tree is furthermore provided with the eyes 23 for attachment to the clevises at the front ends of the cultivator-beams. In lieu of this tree with its trace hooks and eyes for attachment to the clevises I may employ the lapped hooks 2st, which are attached individually to the clevises of the beams and are united loosely at their free ends by means of a ring 25.

One of the novel features of my improvement resides in the provision of means by which a single third cultivator-beam may be operatively connected with the pair of front beams to trail in rear thereof and in a plane between the paths of the front beams, or another pair of beams may be suitably coupled with the front beams to trail directly in rear thereof. In Fig. l of the drawings I have illustrated an adaptation of the implement by which a single trailing` beam may be operatively connected with the connecting-link 17 of the beam-handles. By reference to Fig.

l it will be observed that the rear beam 26 is provided with a handle and a stock similar to the front beams.

To operatively connect the trailing or rear beam 26 with the pair of front beams, I employ a coupling-bar 27, which is arranged in a substantially vertical position between the front beams and the handles thereof, and the upper end of this coupling-bar is united in a suitable way to the connecting-link 17 between the beam-handles 3 4. The union between the connecting-link 17 and the coupling-bar 27 may be effected in any suitable way-as,for instance,by means of a bolt which passes through apertures in the coupling-bar and the connecting-link in a way to secure vertical adjustment of the coupling-bar-but this is not essential, because the coupling-bar may be united to the link by means 0f a clip or clamp of any approved construction. The lower end of this coupling-bar is forked or bifureated to provide the foot 29, which is pierced transversely by a bolt-hole 30, and this foot is adapted to embrace or straddle the front end of the rear beam 2G to permit a bolt 3l to pass through the foot or beam and loosely or pivotally couple the bar 27 to the rear beam 26.

In case it is desired to couple a pair of rear beams to the front beams I employ a draft appliance similar to either of the devices heretofore described, and which draft appliance is loosely connected with the clevises on the front ends of said rear beams, connectinglinks similar to the links 11 and 17 being also coupled to loosely connect the pair of rear beams together in a manner similar to the front beams heretofore described. The loosely-connected rear beams, with the draft appliance, are united to the foot of the coupling-bar 27, which is attached to t-he connecting-link between the handles of the front beams, and thus the implement consists of two pairs of bars, which are loosely connected to each other in a manner to havethe rear beams trail behind the front beams.

By having the pair of beams loosely connected together the operator can swing the handles to the right or left in guiding the implement with the same facility as a single plow and without being under the necessity' to turn or lift either plow out of the ground. This attains a very desirable result, which renders the combination of plows a success in breaking land or for cultivating purposes. The beams of the implement may be readily adjusted to any required width, owing to the provision of the apertures in the links and the employment of movable and adjustable pivotal bolts, and the plow-stocks may be adjusted on the beams to suit the kind of work which it is desired to perform.

The implement is adapted to be used for breaking the soil, bedding cotton-land, for covering corn, or for cultivating purposes, and this adaptation of the implement is rendered possible by the employment of the links which loosely connect the beams and handles `and the loosely-attached draft appliance. I may use either a singletree or a doubletree, according as the implement is .used with a single pair of beams or a double pair of beams, coupled together as described. The coupling-bar which unites the rear beam or beams with the connecting-links between the handles of the front beams serves to regulate the rear beam or beams and to govern or control the same in the travel of the iinplement across the field.

It is evident that changes in the form and proportion of parts may be made bya skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim isl. In an agricultural implement, the combination with a handle-connecting link on a front pair of beams, of a rear beam or beams, and a coupling-bar which is united to said connecting-link and is attached to the rear beam or beams, substantially as described.

2. In an agricultural implement, the combination of a pair of front beams, a connecting-link which unites the handle-bars of said front beams together, a coupling-bar clamped to the connecting-link at a point between the haudlebars, and a rear beam detachably con- Ioo I'I'S bination of a pair of front beams provided with handle-bars, a lower connecting-link loosely attached to the rear ends of said beams, an upper connecting-link loosely attached to the handle-bars of said front beams, a vertical coupling-bar united to the upper connecting-linkbetween the handle-bars, and a rear beam attached to the lower end of said coupling-bar, substantially as described.

' WILLIAM D. HARRIS. Witnesses:

DANIEL V. SEVIER, Jr., JOHN H. BARRETT. 

